JEDDAH: MD AL-SULAMI
Published — Friday 7 November 2014
ARABNEWS
OTTAWA: Canada’s Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has unveiled plans to ban entry to migrants who practice polygamy and what he termed “barbaric cultural practices.”
The move follows a spate of so-called “honor” killings over the past decade involving immigrant families from the Middle East and South Asia.
“We are strengthening our laws to protect Canadians and newcomers to Canada from barbaric cultural practices,” Alexander said in a statement.
“We are sending a strong message to those in Canada and those who wish to come to Canada that we will not tolerate cultural traditions in Canada that deprive individuals of their human rights.”
The sweeping changes to Canada’s immigration act would also prohibit forced marriages, set a minimum age for marriage at 16 and limit possible defenses in “honor” killings and many spousal murders.
In “honor” killings, carried out to protect what is seen as family pride, reasons for disapproval can include having relationships outside of one’s caste or religion.
In May, a court ordered the mother and uncle of a Canadian woman allegedly killed overseas over her secret marriage to a poor rickshaw driver to be extradited to India to face prosecution for murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 14-year-old case.
In another case, the father and brother of a 16-year-old girl pleaded guilty in 2010 to murdering her for disobeying her father, including refusing to wear a hijab. The family had immigrated from Pakistan.
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To mention polygamy in one sentence with other ‘barbaric practices’ is just plain silly. Let’s face facts: The ‘West’ is de-facto practicing polygamy even in higher percentages than the East! Just because in the ‘East’ we honour our commitments does not make us ‘barbaric’.
Speaking to an Australian diplomat he said that ‘when we opened the doors to Hong Kong immigrants’ we found that many of them had a ‘minor wife’ and we had to accommodate that somehow’. Seems rich ‘polygamists’ are welcome.
Speaking to an American (US) diplomat he said that polygamous wives should apply for immigration separately. ‘Once in the country there is freedom how they want to live’ (together or separately). Ah – these bureaucrats!
Yes, Br. Rafiq, women are being used in various illegal ways in western countries but no one is allowed to have a well known, open relation as a legal relation.
It is good to see Muslim men worry about the well being of Western women. I just wanted to remind them that polygamy in Islam is permitted only in exceptional circumstances. Also permission for polygamy does not prevent the troubles of women in a male dominated society. As Muslims have not understood most teachings of the Quran to this day, the teachings about women have also been misunderstood and misconstrued. Once again the West is coming to the rescue. By looking at the empowerment of the women in the West the Muslims have started finding good stuff about them in the Quran. I hope that this process will be quick and the desperate situation of women in the Islamic world will change for the better.